the evergreen, the lionhearted
by decrescence
Summary: — in every world, her heart would always find him. a compilation of 2015 sasusaku month prompts. canon-verse & au.
1. it's about time

**title** : it's about time  
 **prompt** : #1 - matchmaker  
 **summary** : in which a scheming uzumaki naruto plays matchmaker.  
 **a/n** : happy sasusaku month, everyone! i'll be participating again this year and uploading a short piece every day throughout the month, and even though i haven't written in a while, i hope you all enjoy!

* * *

"Naruto-kun, what are we—?"

"Look, look, Hinata-chan, here they come!"

Hinata stifled a gasp as Naruto's hand came up to the crown of her head, pulling her down and out of sight a ways from the bush they were currently crouching behind. She lifted two fingers to her temple, rubbing small circles into her skin as she tried to make out who exactly _they_ were by peering through the small gaps in the greenery, and Naruto squatted beside her, attempting to giggle at the quietest volume he could muster.

She glimpsed two figures passing by their bush, their footsteps carrying easily as they turned the corner. Hinata's eyes trailed upward from their ankles, as Naruto leaned on to her for support from having swallowed far too many laughs. She noticed the familiar Uchiha fan pressed seamlessly into the fabric at the back of the taller figure's shirt, the perfect Haruno circle centered at the back of the smaller figure's backside, and realized immediately.

Hinata turned to Naruto, who was now slowly rising above the cover of their bush, watching the pair with his utmost attention from behind his fingers. She tugged at his sleeve, not wanting to break it to him that it was _possible_ thatthey would see him if he stood like that. "Naruto-kun," she said slowly, and he glanced to her at once. "Just to make sure… You wanted to stalk Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan?"

She heard him laugh. "Not stalk, Hinata-chan! Not stalk—more like, well, I'm taking the responsibility as their best friend to get them together as quickly as I can." He absentmindedly removed a hand from his face to play with her fingers. "It's about time, and if I leave it to them, it's never gonna happen, you know?"

Quickly, Hinata peeked over the top of the bush to see Sasuke and Sakura's figures a few paces away, walking not quite hand in hand but very much in step and in sync with one another. Their distance was small, and they conversed with each other as easily as breathing. She could even see the upward curve of Sasuke's lips when he turned to look at Sakura, along with the brightness alight on Sakura's features, a different sort of light from the one she usually emitted, as if this one was just for him. The sight made Hinata smile, and she quickly retreated behind the cover of the bush again.

"You're right, Naruto-kun."

* * *

After hours of pestering, Sasuke and Sakura met the couple at Ichiraku's by dinnertime. (Sakura had agreed immediately, but naturally, Sasuke had taken some convincing.)

Sasuke and Sakura said their hellos, took their seats all without knowing any of the two following facts: Naruto and Hinata had arrived two hours early so Naruto could coach Hinata through various answers she could give to any question that proved to be too probing ("If they ask, tell them…we just haven't seen enough of them lately! Oh, oh, or this: ramen tastes better with everyone! I like that one, what do you think, Hinata-chan?), and Naruto had strategically seated himself and Hinata at the very end of the ramen stall so that Sasuke and Sakura would have no choice but to sit together in case they considered separating.

The clock ticked on, and by Naruto's gauge, it was all progressing well. By the fifteen minute mark—he had Hinata tell him when it came—Naruto picked up his chopsticks to stir his bowl of empty soup, reminding himself to be casual. He then turned to Sasuke, who was sitting at his left side. "So, Sasuke," he began, wiggling his eyebrows as he pointed at the two of them. He suddenly forgot the dialogue he had prepared when Sasuke scowled, and decided to rewrite his script as he went. "Um…when's it gonna happen?"

Hinata could hear Sasuke exhale even from Naruto's other side. "When's _what_ gonna happen?"

Sakura leaned torward them, and Naruto dropped his chopsticks into his bowl to gesture widely at them. "You know…"

"I don't."

Naruto huffed indignantly and threw his arms in the air, outlining a large heart around the pair. "You know," he repeated forcefully, drawing out the last syllable. "When are you guys gonna become a thing?"

Sasuke put his chopsticks down, glanced at Sakura, who in turn folded her napkin into a neat square, glanced at Sasuke. Sasuke cleared his throat, and Naruto's eyes widened, his right hand flying to his chest all too quickly.

"Wait, are you guys already…" he whispered, before his voice rose to ten times its natural volume, "what?!"

As he tumbled out of his chair, Sasuke leaned out of the way to make the fall easier, and Hinata rushed to collect him after offering her congratulations to the two of them in turn.

"Be still, my heart…" came Naruto's groan from the ground.


	2. snapshot

**title** : snapshot  
 **prompt** : #2 - no filter  
 **summary** : sakura noticed a new picture frame in their living room, sitting proudly in place of the old one sarada had despised.  
 **a/n** : you all should read the latest chapter of gaiden if you haven't already!

* * *

Sarada loved to watch her parents. After a lifetime of not knowing how they interacted with one another in the flesh, it was warming finally being able to experience how _home_ felt with all three of them there and together.

Naturally, Sarada's relationship with her father was rather strained at first, with pieces having yet to be put in place, but it was coming along nicely. They were quick in learning each other, and although he still had a ways to go in terms of hugs, the Papa that Sarada had so often imagined had finally become hers.

On the other hand, Papa's relationship with Mama had not faltered in the least: they were as together as she had always dreamed they would be. Mama and Papa, Sarada sometimes whispered, under her breath when they could not hear. The phrase made her smile. Uchiha Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke.

As much as possible, they ate breakfast together. Mama and Papa took turns cooking, but they sat and ate the meal together, as a family. During Papa's earliest days back home, Sarada often stayed quiet, carefully testing the waters before she spoke, and instead, she watched Mama and Papa talk, learned how their voices sounded together, how their smiles looked side by side.

They balanced each other, Sarada thought at once, bringing her hands up to her cheeks as she leaned her elbows against the surface of their kitchen table. Mama's voice was bright and lively, and Papa's was low, on the softer side. Papa leaned toward Mama when she talked, always listening and watching intently. Mama sometimes reached for his hands, and Sarada watched with rapt attention as he always let her. Mama's smile was sunlight, and Papa's was fleeting, quiet, and if Sarada blinked she would miss it—but she never did.

Sarada felt a grin blossom on her face. The Seventh had said she was a combination of her parents, and now that meant more than ever. She stifled a soft laugh from behind her fingers, and Sakura looked to her immediately, her eyebrows raised in question at her daughter's strange behavior.

"Sarada-chan? What's wrong?" Mama asked, studying her expression. A knowing smile captured her lips. "Bo—?"

Sasuke's chair creaked from across the table as Sakura trailed off. His eyes flew to his wife, to daughter in turn, and though he didn't say a thing, Sarada was alarmed at the fire his irises spun. ( _Boys?_ Sasuke thought. _Boruto?!_ )

He placed his hand at his chest, making a face, and Sarada waved her hands at him, attempting to dismiss her father's thoughts. "That's not it, Papa!" she exclaimed, and Mama laughed.

* * *

Sometimes Mama and Papa fought over trivial things, and such sights were entertaining to Sarada as she patiently stood by and waited to see who would arise victor. After breakfast, they took to bickering outside, in the growing garden behind their home, under the white sunlight that played across the shapes of their faces.

Sarada sat at the top of the stairs leading down the door, with a few packages of seeds in her lap as she watched them. The package of tomato seeds almost fell from her grip as Sakura shoved her husband over, her teeth gritted. "You've always had such bad judgement, Sasuke-kun!" Sarada heard her exclaim, as she snatched the shovel from him. " _Clearly_ the strawberry plant will look _much_ better over here!"

With her hand, Mama gestured vaguely to an empty patch of dirt to the left, and Sarada easily glimpsed Papa roll his eyes since Mama had tied his hair up before they went outside. Sarada watched as he bent down to stick his hand in the large watering can at his feet before leaning over to Mama and flicking her in the face with droplets of cool water.

Mama _screeched_.

Papa lifted the back of his hand to cover his mouth, laughing at her reaction. "I don't think so," he told her. "I mean, I married you, didn't I? That wasn't 'bad judgement'."

The shovel slipped from Sakura's fingers, and she quickly stooped down to pick it up. Sarada nearly doubled over from laughter—she could see the redness of Mama's ears as she bent over, muttering beneath her breath.

When she stood straight again, there was a smile on Papa's face, and a laugh escaped Mama's lips, despite herself. "I guess not," she said, reaching for him.

Mama embraced Papa, and Sarada jolted, fumbling for the small digital camera she had come to carry around with her. Holding it up to her face, she quickly took a snapshot of her parents, before hiding it back in her pocket by the time Mama's voice carried to her.

"Sarada-chan, why don't you come help us?" Mama called, and Sarada stood up immediately, taking inventory of the seed packages she had as she descended the steps.

"Coming!"

A few days later, Sakura noticed a new picture frame in their living room, sitting proudly in place of the old one Sarada had despised. It showed a beautiful picture: she and her husband outside on a hot, clear day in the heart of the summer, and the sight brought the warmest of smiles to her face.


	3. high striker

**title** : high striker  
 **prompt** : #3 - carnival  
 **summary** : "i bet i can outdo you at this one, too, sasuke-kun!"

* * *

Moonlight glinted off the surface of the water filling the rectangular pool Sasuke kneeled in front of, and as he drew his small net through the water, he thought to himself that he had never seen Konoha so alive, despite it being nighttime. He watched the goldfish racing through the pool in front of him, as the village children chased each other and old friends chattered amongst their companions behind him.

Despite his aversion to places swarming with people, such as the festival Naruto conveniently arranged at the heart of the summer following the start of his term as Hokage, the blond had insisted some changes would be taking place in the village. Sasuke wrinkled his nose at the memory: Naruto had taken him by the arm, nudged his side, and preached to him for minutes on end how he would make it one of his priorities as Hokage to have his best friend "lighten up."

All his antics had led to a carnival-type festival, of all things. Sasuke tore his net through the water, pulled from his thoughts by Sakura's laugh beside him. She grabbed his shoulder and shook him slightly. "Sasuke-kun, you're scaring the fish!"

Sasuke exhaled, the portion of his bangs obscuring the rings of his rinnegan flying upward in a sort of dismissal wave. He glanced sideways at her, finally taking notice of the metal bowl in her left hand that was steadily filling up with goldfish she had caught. Sasuke wrinkled his nose in distaste at his own empty bowl. "Sakura," he intoned quietly.

"Hm?" She scooped two more goldfish into her bowl.

"How do you—how do you do that?"

Sakura laughed again and traded him her metal bowl for his empty one. "First of all, you need to be less—" she trailed off to squint her eyes and scowl in what Sasuke assumed was her best imitation of him. "Be gentle, or all the fish'll swim away, see? All you have to do is..."

Minutes later, Sasuke fell into step beside a grinning Sakura walking briskly ahead, swinging her arms at her sides as Sasuke was forced to carry the large plush dango, pink stuffed rabbit, and bag of goldfish she had won at previous games he had unfortunately failed at. The goldfish nearly flew out of his hand as Sakura pulled him to yet another game lining the street.

Before he could protest, Sakura plucked her winnings from his hold and pushed a large, red hammer into his hand. "High striker, high striker!" she chanted, hip checking him toward the strength tester whose lever he assumed he was meant to hit with the hammer. "I bet I can outdo you at this one too, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, deciding not to rain on her parade by pointing out that he was at a slight disadvantage, with one arm and all. Minutes later, when Sakura shattered the high striker and sent its operator flying with a loud shout of 'shannaro—!' he decided that that had admittedly been the wrong choice.

She soon was parading down the street with Sasuke tagging close behind her, a new plush onigiri added to the collection he carried for her. With all the prizes shrouding his view, Sasuke barely noticed when they stopped at a crepe stand and she purchased two for the both of them. They took a seat at a bench, and Sasuke was finally able to put down the various prizes as Sakura handed him a crepe.

Sasuke watched as Sakura took a bite and waited for her to swallow. "You're really enjoying yourself today, Sakura."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Sakura asked, glancing at him. "You don't seem like you're having too much fun, though. I'll try to go easy on you next time—"

Sasuke leaned back in the bench, unable to hold back a laugh. "I am, I am, there's no need for that," he said, lifting a hand to tap the side of her head.

"Aah, this is great. It's great being together like this…" Sakura reached for his hand, and he let her. "I'm happy, Sasuke-kun."

"You are?"

"Mhm."

"…Me too."


	4. of games and shoujo manga

**title** : of games and shoujo manga  
 **prompt** : #4 - the games we play  
 **summary** : but this is neither a game nor a shoujo manga.  
 **a/n** : sorry this one is awfully short...

* * *

Naruto knows Sasuke—he's his best friend, and has been for a while. Naruto, of all people, should know Sasuke.

He knows that Sasuke's a bit on the constantly pissed off side, a little impatient sometimes, an incurable asshole. He doesn't usually watch his words when he talks, even with elders and those of higher authority, and he speaks frankly, honestly. He tends to come off as arrogant and dismissing and has the worst social skills he has ever seen.

Naruto knows this, so when there's the subtlest of changes in Sasuke's persona when he's around Sakura, he puffs his chest and proudly tells himself he's probably the first one who noticed. He takes note of how Sasuke's a little quieter around her, in a peaceful way, more observant and attentive. He's always quick to answer her when she calls for him, and his eyes never waver from her when she talks, when she laughs. His gaze barely even falters on the not-so-rare occasion that she yells at him, her voice biting and shrill.

Sometimes, Naruto notices, Sasuke's eyes linger on her lips, but when he mentions this to him, he earns himself a hard punch to the side and finds himself face-down on the sidewalk at Ichiraku's. When Naruto musters enough strength to dust himself off, though, he glimpses the redness burning at Sasuke's ears and thinks to himself that it was worth it. He pockets the tidbit of information, only sparing it to Hinata, whose eyes brighten upon hearing the news.

It's only natural, Hinata tells him, knowingly, Sakura-chan's so beautiful, after all.

Soon after, Naruto notices another change in his best friend. He watches as he slowly begins to close the distance between himself and their pink-haired teammate, just ever so slightly. Sometimes when they talk, he leans closer. When they walk together, he constantly seems as though he's contemplating on taking her hand. When she grows angry at him, he merely shakes his head, baring his palms to her, almost seeming as though he's moving in to pull her close.

But Sakura, on the other hand, barely seems to notice their friend's attempts, and instead evades his efforts at decreasing distance. She brushes him off, almost subconsciously, without thinking. Naruto wonders if she's doing it on purpose, if she's noticed Sasuke's feelings at all. It's not like her to let things go unseen.

"Say, Naruto, do you think Sakura hates me?" Sasuke asks one day, at Ichiraku's again, and Naruto spits out his ramen, nearly falling out of his chair.

He rearranges himself quickly and lifts a hand scratch his ear. "Why the hell would you think that?" he says, squinting at him.

Sasuke shrugs—almost _helplessly_ , Naruto decides—and sighs. "Sometimes I just get that feeling that she does."

Naruto's eyes widen, and he vigorously attempts to shake the bad thoughts out of his friend.

He witnesses a third change in Sasuke following suit of their conversation. Sasuke becomes the one to brush Sakura off, giving her the silent treatment and half-assed answers in conversation.

Not long after, Sakura seeks out Naruto herself. "Naruto!" she calls one day, grabbing him by the arm. "What's up with Sasuke-kun? He's poutier recently, and I'm worried. I talked to Ino about it, but —"

Naruto runs a hand over his face before placing his hands squarely at her shoulders. "You two need to get it together," he says, articulating each word in turn.

"What?"

He gives her a shake. "You two need to get together," he says, amending his words. "Stop playing games, this isn't a damn shoujo manga."

"…Ino-pig told me the same thing…"


	5. test of will

**title** : test of will  
 **prompt** : #5 - test  
 **summary** : ino always knew sakura had it in her.

* * *

No matter how Sakura pumped her arms at her sides, she remained a good five strides behind Ino, who had steadily kept ahead of her from the moment they began their race around the village. She gritted her teeth, chasing at her friend's tail. It was Ino-pig's height for sure, she told herself—anyone could see Ino was the taller of the two, she had longer legs for sure—!

"Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted in exasperation, willing away her excuses, and her voice carried easily to the other girl, despite their increasing distance.

Ino briefly turned to grin and stick out her tongue before rushing forward and placing another three paces between them. "Don't let me win this one, too, Forehead!" she shot back, making a show of waving her hand.

Sakura exclaimed, brows wrinkling and fists clenching as she forced herself into a speed that would surely knock Ino away, but it seemed her efforts would prove to be futile, as Ino still remained ahead. As always, Sakura thought bitterly. In ninjutsu, in looks, in popularity, Ino had her beat—sometimes she wondered why Ino even bothered calling her a rival.

Ino skidded to a stop at the mouth of the Academy, where they had agreed to end the race, and moments later, Sakura collapsed at her side, gasping for breath. Ino stretched her arms over her head, wiping away the beads of sweat that had collected at her forehead before bending over to pluck the two water bottles she had prepared from the ground, tossing one to Sakura, who missed it completely.

"Looks like I win," Ino said, between gulps of water.

Sakura groaned from the floor, watching as Ino crinkled the half-empty bottle in her right hand, reenergized and a new spark in her eye.

"Come _on_ , Forehead!" Ino crooned, smirking. "I bet I can eat more ice cream than you, too."

Ino took off, leaving Sakura alone to nurse her sore joints and muscles. She sighed at her aching legs. It barely helped that just that morning they had competed at several tests and tasks: seeing who could balance on one foot the longest, who could beat the other at arm wrestling, who could do the most sit ups, followed by a series of several races. Each try had been a consecutive loss for Sakura, who had admittedly even pushed herself to try even harder each round that came next.

Sakura exhaled in frustration, untwisted the cap of the water bottle, and made for the ice cream shop.

Soon after her latest defeat, Sakura sat at the booth she and Ino had often shared back in their earlier childhoods, when competition and rivalry had played no part in their friendship. Swallowing a mouthful of strawberry ice cream, Sakura reminisced the old, simpler days.

From beside her, Ino was inhaling vanilla ice cream (fat free, with no added sugar) at a speed that made Sakura's brain freeze twice as worse, and many bowls later, both girls clutched their stomachs and keeled over. After a series of janken rounds, Ino reclaimed her title as winner.

The last competition took place the next day, a bright and early Monday morning on their walk to the Academy. As Sakura fell into step with Ino, she nudged her forward, a mischievous grin alight on her face as she pointed ahead of them. Sakura raised her eyebrows, following her gaze.

"First one to talk to Sasuke-kun wins this time," Ino said softly, so the boy wouldn't hear.

Sakura's heart dropped. Ino could've challenged her to another race, another sit up competition—anything but that. She glanced forward, glimpsing Sasuke a few feet from where she and Ino stood, before turning back to Ino to wrinkle her nose.

"Ino-pig..." she groaned, half-pushing Ino aside so she would stumble off the sidewalk.

Ino lifted the back of her hand to hide her laughter. "If you don't, I will..." she chorused, but deep down, she knew she wouldn't have to. She had long since noticed how each failure brought Sakura back stronger than ever and had wanted to use the opportunity to help her grow.

She watched as Sakura took a breath and stepped toward Sasuke.

Years later, she would still smile as her grown childhood friend, with her hair as pink and eyes as bright as ever, would fall into step beside Sasuke, time and time again.

"I always knew you had it in you, Forehead," she would say, pride coloring her voice.


	6. verity

**title** : verity  
 **prompt** : #6 - skin deep  
 **summary** : sakura's love has never been skin deep.

* * *

Sakura runs home from the Academy positively glowing one day, and the sight warms Mebuki to her toes as she reaches out to give her young daughter a hug. Her presence is so, so alive in her arms, and as Mebuki breathes into Sakura's hair, a weight is lifted off her shoulders. She blinks away recollections of her daughter returning home in the afternoons, almost close to tears, wispy bangs plastered against her forehead from her little fingers having pressed them down far too often, in attempt to hide her forehead.

"I had a good day at school today, okaasan." Sakura smiles up at her, and Mebuki's heart swells.

"I'm glad," she tells her, taking her small hand in hers and leading her into the kitchen.

Mebuki listens contentedly as Sakura tells her of her day between bites of fruit-cubes speared on a small metal fork. This time, there is no mention of bullies, teasing, or insecurities. Sakura adjusts the red ribbon in her hair that her favorite Ino-chan gave her and tells her mother of her new friends, mentions a Sasuke-kun, her excellence at the week's written tests, again of her new friends, and again of Sasuke-kun.

Mebuki knows of the Uchiha boy, but this is the first time she clasps her hands together and thanks him for breathing life into her little girl. No harm in a little schoolgirl crush to brighten Sakura's day, Mebuki muses, thinking back to her own Academy days.

She helps herself to a piece of watermelon and is more than happy listening to her daughter ramble on.

—

* * *

Much later, when her daughter is a full-fledged genin, Mebuki notices, with pride, that Sakura's become even brighter these days. Her growth is evident to anyone that has known her in her earlier youth. She is always smiling, now, no longer as burdened by the thoughts of others, and that smile has never ceased to warm her mother's heart.

Sakura is stronger, now, too—she often comes home from training or a mission sweaty and tired, and Mebuki admires how hard her daughter works. She bares her teeth through injuries, always coming back better than before, and though she has her bouts of self-doubt from comparing herself to her teammates, she never fails to do her best.

Mebuki has never been prouder. Her daughter is so hard-working and so beautiful, everything she ever wished for.

She approaches her one morning as she is brushing her hair in the face of the mirror in their sitting room. Mebuki plucks the hairbrush from Sakura's fingers, gathers her hair in her hands, and begins to run the brush down her back. She glances up to the glass every so often to smile at their reflections.

"Your hair's gotten so long," she hums absentmindedly. "You used to keep it short as a kid, remember? Are you sure you don't want it cut like that again?"

Sakura shakes her head, lifting a hand behind her neck, and Mebuki is surprised to see her features flush the softest shade of red. "I, um, heard Sasuke-kun likes girls…with long hair, so I thought maybe…" she trails off, a small, nervous laugh escaping her lips.

"Ah, I see," Mebuki says.

There's more of a spark in her eye when Sakura talks about Sasuke-kun these days, Mebuki thinks. Still the same slight blush of her cheeks, curve of her lips, the same admiration coloring her tone, but less of simple, silly compliments with something more concrete to replace it. There are more, "I want to be brave like Sasuke-kun"s and "I need to work as hard as Sasuke-kun"s.

I want to be strong like Sasuke-kun, Mebuki mouths soundlessly, remembering her words.

It's the first time she realizes Sakura's little crush isn't just skin deep.

—

* * *

When Sasuke leaves the village in pursuit of greater power, Sakura's world comes crumbling down. Mebuki catches her crying often at home, her sobs hard and raw and so _helpless_ , her hands pressed into her eyes, trembling because no matter what, she can't keep the tears from leaking out from the gaps of her fingers.

Sakura still pulls herself together for breakfast with her family, and although she doesn't say a thing, Mebuki sees the shadows beneath her eyes that have never had a place there before. She sees the redness of her beautiful, beautiful eyes, the ghosts of handprints against her skin from caging her own face in her hands.

Mebuki takes those hands in her own, runs her thumbs over all ten of her daughter's fingers. She focuses on Sakura's hands, knowing it would be best for her not to meet her watering eyes, and she now understands she is not holding the hands of a girl who has lost a petty crush who held her infatuation, but the hands of a girl who has lost a good friend, a comrade, a first love who would someday prove to become even more.


	7. of love and loss

**title** : of love and loss  
 **prompt** : #7 - mortality  
 **summary** : sasuke thought back to the day he lost everything.

* * *

It was still in the hospital room. A swarm of medics had come and gone, gloved hands that had held white bandages and woven gauze when they had entered left empty upon leaving.

Sasuke had been absorbed by watching them as they crowded the bed, cleansing blood, bandaging wounds, and threading needles into veins, but now there was nothing left to keep his thoughts from eating him. He sat, leaning into the wall, his left hand deadweight in his lap as his right hand remained clenched around the cold metal of his chair, his knuckles as white as Sakura's face as she lay in the stretcher, all natural color washed from her face.

With the medics gone, despite how hard Sasuke tried to focus on the apathetic gray tile floor, his eyes always seemed to return to Sakura's form on the bed, her limbs arranged in such a lifeless way he had to keep reminding himself that she was breathing, just as he was.

For a moment, Sasuke tore his eyes from her, letting them wander to Kakashi, who was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest as he studied the pulse of the heart rate monitor, his gaze following each dip and rise. Though most of his face was hidden from view, the downward slope of his brows marked his face with concern.

Naruto sat just a few feet from Sasuke, but the bases of his palms were pressed hard into his eyelids as he hunched forward, his elbows piercing his legs, so he didn't notice when Sasuke glanced at him. Aside from the mechanical rhythm of the heart monitor and the faintest ticking of a clock centered over the doorway, Naruto's ragged breathing was one of the only sounds in the room.

It was like that for a while: no one spoke, looked at each other, tapped a foot on the tile. Sasuke let his eyes drift close.

"I need to start pulling my weight on this team," he heard Sakura say, her voice loud and resonating. "I'm going to be just as strong as you two one day, count on it, Sasuke-kun!"

He swallowed a lump in his throat, and a shriek replaced the sound of words, followed by a series of high-pitched screams. They were the same screams he had heard earlier that day, when enemy-nins had surrounded and attacked Sakura when she threw herself in front of the team.

Sasuke's eyes flew open. "I should've protected you," he exhaled, grimacing, "not the other way around."

He inched his chair closer to her bedside and sat an arm's length from the bed. She looked so wan and pale against the white sheets, a hand clenched into a fist at her stomach and her other arm extended limply at her side. There was no life to her features, so unlike the way she was when she was awake, and Sasuke was suddenly overcome by how simple it was to lose someone, how fragile a life could be.

He thought back to the day he lost everything, knotting his fingers with the edge of the sparse blanket spilling over the side of the bed. "I won't ever forgive you if you go," he breathed out, lowly enough so he wouldn't be heard.

His eyes were closed by the time Sakura's lips lifted ever so slightly in her dreamlike state.


	8. sweet tooth

**title** : sweet tooth  
 **prompt** : #8 - mission impossible  
 **summary** : "he just wanted to spend time with you, sakura-chan!" naruto snorted.

* * *

After pressing her back against the side of the Yamanaka flower shop, Sakura quickly stuck her head out from the corner of the store, peeking down the sidewalk and surveying the area before making a signal with her hands, motioning to her teammates that it was safe to pursue their target.

There was a blur of their respective colors, and within a moment, Team 7 was across the street, hidden in the shadow of a dango stand. It was Sasuke who looked for their target this time.

"She's stopped at a couple of kids down the block," he told them, drawing his eyebrows downward as he watched a woman park her mobile cart in front of a group of neighborhood children sitting at the edge of the sidewalk. "I think they're going to buy some."

Naruto groaned loudly, leaning against the side of the dango stand and sliding downward so that he was sitting at the gravel beneath them. "How the hell are they affording those cookies?!" he hissed, clutching at his growling stomach. Even from their distance, he could smell the cookies that boasted at being the best in Konoha. They were rated five stars and everything, he thought bitterly, and sold despite their ridiculously high price.

Sasuke shrugged and took a seat in front of Naruto, an elbow resting on his knee as he glanced up at Sakura.

"We need to go snatch some while she's parked," she suggested, leaning out of their temporary hiding spot. "It'll be easier that way—the lady will be distracted with the other kids."

Naruto and Sasuke helped themselves up, and the dango-seller smiled over at them, dusting his hands off on his striped apron. "Kids, would you like to buy some—?"

They shook their heads slightly and took off.

Soon enough, they were just meters away from the cookie cart, hidden behind a bookstore. Sasuke watched as the old woman who towed the cart around town distributed a warm cookie to each of the kids seated at the sidewalk, and Sakura wrinkled her nose at the sight. Her eyes darted to Naruto, who was still clutching his stomach and making uncomfortable noises. The scent of the homemade cookies was taking a toll on her as well, she realized, hearing the low rumble of her stomach. She scowled, her breakfast feeling ages ago.

As the woman gingerly picked up a chocolate cookie to give the second child not so patiently waiting, Sakura tugged on her teammates and they rushed out from behind the bookstore and onto the sidewalk, where they fell into formation, readying themselves to stretch out their arms as they passed by the cart.

Unfortunately, the aroma of the cookies proved too much for Naruto, and he tripped just as his index finger grazed a warm sugar cookie. Sakura crashed into him, and Sasuke fell into Sakura in turn.

The lady started upon seeing the three of them at the foot of her cart and looked around in surprise. "Ah…if you all are all right, would you three be interested in buying anything?" she asked.

Sasuke got up first, handing her a few crinkled bills and buying three cookies before Sakura could protest.

Minutes later, they retreated to the back of the Yamanaka flower shop to eat, and Sakura noticed Sasuke simply holding his own in the palm of his hand.

"I forgot you don't like sweets, Sasuke-kun," she said, wiping off the crumbs on her dress. "Why'd you agree to tag along today?"

Sasuke was silent, and Naruto glanced at him before erupting into laughter upon noticing the slight redness of his ears.

"He just wanted to spend time with you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto snorted, and Sakura's eyes widened as she waved his joke away.

Sasuke cleared his throat. "Something like that," he said.

The remains of Sakura's cookie slipped from her hands.


	9. whisper

**title** : whisper  
 **prompt** : #9 - trauma  
 **summary** : she traced into his skin: _i'm here for you_.

* * *

The ground was cool underneath Sakura's back, and she could feel the ghosts of dewdrops against her fingers as she ran a hand over the grass beside her. Around her, it was still and quiet, save for the chirping cicadas and occasional hoot of an owl hidden among the tall trees that pierced the sky from all around.

She rolled over on her side to glance at her teammates, and Team 7 lay sprawled out just a few hands' widths from her: Kakashi, too, was on his side, facing the mouth of the forest in front of them, sleeping soundlessly; Naruto lay on his stomach, his face just barely turned from the tufts of grass scattered beneath him, his features relaxed as sound snores escaped his lips; Sasuke faced the sky, his hands neatly arranged over his stomach, and his face almost pensive, as though even in sleep he was deep in thought.

Sakura smiled softly at the sight, letting her eyes flutter close not long after. She breathed in and invited sleep.

Just as slumber had been toying at the edge of her vision, she heard a sudden jumble of movements, a heaved gasp, followed by a few series of ragged inhales and exhales that gradually evened out, little by little. Her eyes flew open, the potential of slumber drained from her system.

She turned her head ever so slightly to face her teammates again and watched as Sasuke stood up from the forest floor and made his way out of their shelter in the trees and into the night. Even under a shroud of darkness, the pale light of the moon was more than enough to see that his expression was no longer peacefully meditative but more lost in thought than she had ever seen him.

Once Sasuke's back was turned and he had placed a few strides between himself and the rest of the team, Sakura stood up and let quietly placed footsteps lead her toward him. She kept her distance at first, remaining a good two wingspans from his back as he approached the rush of the creek in the distance, his footsteps not quite his.

A few paces later he sat by the water, a hand reaching out for a flat pebble on the ground, tossing it in front of him, perhaps with the intention to have it skid across the creek's surface, but instead it merely sank through the water, swallowed whole.

Cautiously, Sakura approached his side, kneeling a little ways from him, and although he said nothing, she knew he had noticed her long ago. She inhaled softly, the night air she took in cool and dewy.

Sasuke leaned forward to run his hand through the water. "It's cold," he exhaled, his voice only a breath.

Sakura placed her fingertips at the water's edge, wiggling her fingers. "Yeah..."

She glanced over at him as he mimicked her, making a wave of his fingers. There was a certain absence about his eyes, a lack of something usually there. As if noticing her staring, Sasuke lifted his dry hand to his cheekbone, rubbing at the area beneath his eyes.

"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" Sakura asked, reaching for him as she inched closer.

"Yeah," he said, hollowly, and Sakura pressed her lips into a hard line. "You wouldn't get it."

Her face fell, as she folded back into herself, and Sasuke winced, clearing his throat. "It's just…sometimes I dream of my parents, out of the blue, and they—they seemed so happy. I can barely remember them being like that."

He trailed off, let her come closer as she edged toward him, accepted her silence, and for a while they sat like that, almost a single entity as they breathed in the night together, at the water's edge. _I'm sorry,_ she traced into his skin, just a whisper of her thumb over his arm. _We're here for you. I'm here for you._

Sasuke's shoulder pressed against Sakura's as they heard an owl hoot in the distance. "Thanks, Sakura," he said, after a long while.


	10. payback

**title** : payback  
 **prompt** : #10 - haircut  
 **summary** : he could see the flush of his features in the mirror.

* * *

By the heart of the summer, Sakura noticed Sasuke's hair had grown out quite a bit. Wisps of his hair dangled at his shoulders when he moved during training, fringe obscuring his eyes, and he seemed to dislike how it got in the way, so she often offered him a hair tie and watched with a smile as he pulled his hair into the smallest of ponytails centered at the back of his head.

Soon, Sasuke's hair grew even longer, calling for the small ponytail to become his usual choice of hairstyle, but when Naruto began mocking him by tying up his own bangs in a similar fashion, Sasuke finally decided it was time to have his hair cut to its former length. Sakura then piped up, offering to do it for him after the day's sparring session, and to her surprise, the boy shrugged and agreed.

She handed him a mirror as he sat on a stool on the porch of her backyard, before pulling out a pair of red scissors. After spraying his hair with a bottle of water to dampen it slightly, a web of dew collected at the crown of his head. She started by thinning out the long bangs clouding his face.

Sasuke watched as hair fell into his lap. He cleared his throat. "Sakura?" he asked, suddenly.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

"Have you ever cut hair before?"

Sakura's hands froze over his head, a portion of his bangs still between her index and middle finger. "Ah...no?" she said, a sheepish smile coming over her lips. "Unless you count the haircuts I gave my dolls when I was a kid. But I did a pretty good job on them, if I do say so myself."

Sasuke exhaled, muttering something beneath his breath. Sakura caught the signature word 'annoying' but from the mirror, she could see that his features held some amusement.

She tugged at his hair, waving the scissors over his head. "Don't worry, Sasuke-kun, I won't do anything too terrible!" she said brightly.

Sasuke winced. "Please don't do that with the scissors," he grimaced, but otherwise let her continue to do whatever she wanted, so Sakura snipped away to her heart's content.

When his head was feeling considerably lighter, he took another glance in the mirror and opened his mouth to tell Sakura the current state of his hair was sufficient enough, but before he could breathe a word, Sakura tapped the blade of the scissors against his head. "Remember when you laughed at me last week for tripping over Naruto's leg?" she asked.

Sasuke paused. "I—I did not laugh."

"Ha!" Sakura exclaimed, now poking the pair of scissors over his shoulder. "You can't fool me, Sasuke-kun. I heard you. You audibly laughed."

She made a few more cuts and stepped back before gasping. "Oh, and remember when you just stood there and stared at me while Naruto snuck behind me and gave me the scare of my life?" she continued. "If I recall correctly, you laughed then, too."

"...I didn't."

Sakura stuck her nose up in the air as if she had smelled something rotten. "You've been hanging around Naruto too much. You even scared me yesterday!" She shook her head, as if she couldn't believe it. "What were you thinking, telling me there was a spider in my ramen?! That was so unlike you!"

Sasuke lifted the back of his hand to his mouth, and Sakura came around to his front to adjust his hair from a different angle. "If this haircut doesn't come out right, you can count it as payback." She almost snorted at his sudden silence.

He edged backward as Sakura cut another centimeter off his bangs, suddenly over-aware of the small distance between them, but she only leaned closer as he pulled away. He felt his ears burning. "Sakura," he said, clearing his throat. "I think that's enough."

Sakura shook her head firmly. "I'm not done."

"Sakura..." he shifted back further, not daring to wonder if his face was reddening as well.

"Hold on a minute, Sasuke-kun."

"Sakura, come on..."

"Just a second!"

"Sakura..."

"No—"

By the time Sakura uttered her last word, Sasuke had leaned a few degrees too far and found himself unceremoniously hitting the floor. He winced as the back of his head slammed against the furnished wood of her porch and sighed. The mirror still locked in his hands, he lifted it above himself to study his new haircut.

Sakura fidgeted, placing her scissors on the stool before bending down to help him up. "Well?" she asked, awkwardly. "What do you think?"

Sasuke grimaced at the flush of his cheeks in the mirror. "It's...nice," he told her, and Sakura beamed.


	11. second glances

**title** : second glances  
 **prompt** : #11 - graduate  
 **summary** : he hated the way he looked at her.

* * *

Sasuke exhaled loudly, hands clasped together in front of him, grazing his mouth and hiding a scowl that had stemmed from his frustration at being unable to concentrate. It was only his first day as a genin, and Uzumaki Naruto had already more than ruined the morning for him.

Sasuke thought little of his classmates, barely caring enough to give the majority of them—minus perhaps a select few—anything more than fleeting second glances, but Naruto had long since been ingrained in his mind a nuisance, the type of person that made his skin crawl. Perhaps he was something of a class clown and could provide a laugh to those who needed it, but Sasuke knew his skill and talent barely stretched past his fingertips and were hardly anything to commend the boy for. He found himself wondering how he had even graduated at all.

And to top it all off, he had landed himself a spot in Sasuke's three-person genin team. Sasuke closed his eyes in dismay, not wanting to think about the trials and tribulations that he would undoubtedly have to face soon enough.

A moment later, Sasuke glanced over at the third member of Team 7, who was seated at his right hand side, listening to Iruka with rapt attention. Haruno Sakura, he thought. Loud and lively as she was, there was no denying the caliber her written exam scores always held. He hated to admit she often did better than himself and had found himself studying into the night, just to keep up.

She, too, made his skin crawl in the faintest of ways.

He also faintly recalled Iruka gushing to another sensei about her genjutsu skill. He remembered considering to ask her for pointers once, and then deciding against it. He only wished she would stop acting all out of line every time he passed her vicinity.

But truth be told, she definitely wasn't the team's weakest link and had potential, he mused, half-shrugging to himself. Perhaps he would get around to asking her for tips during their time being a team.

He snuck a glance at her again. Her eyes were still focused unwaveringly at the front of the room, and he found time to wonder why she kept her hair so long despite being a ninja.

He…liked it, he supposed.

From her other side, Sasuke caught an unfortunate glance of Naruto, the boy's right hand cupped at the side of his face as he leaned against the table, gaze clouded with infatuation as he stared at Sakura, his chest sometimes heaving in a dreamy sigh.

Sasuke grimaced, turning away from the sight and finally attempting to tune back in to whatever it was Iruka was saying about the importance of shinobi will. It was another thing about Naruto that frustrated him. Sasuke hated the way he looked at her.


	12. this is not goodbye

**title** : this is not goodbye  
 **prompt** : #12 - white flag  
 **summary** : sasuke has barely promised anything in his life, but this is a promise.

* * *

Sasuke's heart swells when Sakura asks to come along on his journey to see the world.

Breathing quickly becomes something less of second nature and more of a burdening difficulty to him; he feels the air catch in his throat, the clench of his chest, but it's almost a pleasant feeling, he decides, at once. Uchiha Sasuke hasn't felt this way in a while.

He closes his eyes and glimpses flashes of a memory dating back years ago, notices the subdued parallels between the first time he left her and the situation they're in today. He's leaving her again: he knows this, and simply knowing drops a suffocating amount of weight into the crooks of his shoulders. He watches the shapes of her face change just slightly beneath her skin, and it isn't the first time he has wished he could stay.

He wants to ask her to stay with him, like this, for a while, but he can't find the right words. This happens so often around her, and Sasuke almost laughs at his own ineptitude to properly convey his feelings. Instead, he decides to tell her she has nothing to do with his sins.

Sakura's face falls and he winces, realizing his words may have been too harsh. _I can't be with you like this,_ he thinks, _I can't let these sins have anything to do with you._

But Sakura is as strong as the sky is blue and the ground beneath their feet is an earthy clay-brown. She presses her lips together and nods. "Okay," she whispers, only mouthing the word.

"I'll see you when I'm back," he says, softly.

Sasuke reaches out to her for the first time in what feels like forever, extending his right hand to tap his middle and forefinger to the diamond at the center of her forehead. His lips curve at the chaste, simple touch—he feels connected to her again, now more than ever. "Thank you, Sakura," he tells her again.

Her eyes are wide and evergreen, pooling with everything that has ever gone unsaid.

Sasuke lets his own eyes close at the sight, wanting to remember her expression through the duration of his travels. He turns to the wide road in front of him, and Sakura remains burned into his mind, bright as ever. They don't say goodbye.

(This is not goodbye, he tells himself, over and over again.)

He's a good ten paces from the Konoha gate when he hears footsteps chasing after him, their pace like the patter of rain. Sakura's arms encircle him from behind, and he feels her forehead press against his back. "Thanks for not knocking me unconscious this time," Sakura says, half-jokingly, half out of breath, but the scant tremble of her voice grounds him. Her arms tighten around his torso. "Take all the time you need, but please… Find your way home when it's all over, Sasuke-kun. I'll—we'll all be waiting for you here, always."

Sasuke turns in her arms, sees the white flag in her eyes when he looks at her. She won't ask him to stay; she hasn't asked him to stay at all, and although Haruno Sakura has never been one to back down, for now, he realizes she's going to surrender. She's letting him go.

His arm comes around her, his fingers entangling in her hair as he pulls her closer, her ear against his chest as if she's searching for his heartbeat. "I will," he says. Sasuke has barely promised anything in his life, but this is a promise.

Sakura pulls back, her smile pulling at his heartstrings. There are tears in her eyes, but he knows they won't spill today. Her cheeks flush as she stands on tiptoe to brush her lips at Sasuke's cheek, and she's rendered him to a loss for words yet again.

"I had to do it once, before you go," she tells him sheepishly.


	13. threadbare

**title** : threadbare  
 **prompt** : #13 - 2 am  
 **summary** : he wouldn't mind the aching of his chest and how much he missed her if she could wake up that morning with a smile.

* * *

Dreams were rare to Sasuke, but one night he dreamed he was a boy again, back to training in one of the dimly lit rooms of Orochimaru's hideout. The oil lamp that hung at the corner of the chamber did away with enough shadows for him to see the bruises written across his knuckles in ringlets of purple-blue, but the pain barely resonated and was hardly enough to wake him from slumber. A slim mirror across the room provided him a glimpse of his reflection: he hadn't been this age in a while—the area beneath his eyes was dark, the hollows of his cheeks sunken and more defined.

He clenched his fists after shaking out the knots in his joints, aiming a series of blows at the punching bag in front of him, and when he was finally content enough with his punches, he swiveled, barely pausing before directing a high roundhouse kick at one of the training dummies behind him. The dummy's head flew off its shoulders and slammed against the wall across the room, rolling just a few spaces in front of the door, and Sasuke aimed a kick at the headless dummy's neck before switching to a taller punching bag in order to avoid breaking any additional equipment.

His katana made its way into his hands hours later, slashes deep against the wooden surface of the dummy he had beheaded earlier. He had just succeeded in beheading a second dummy when the door sighed and creaked as it swung on its hinges. The empty wooden head fell to the floor as a girl slipped into the room.

Sasuke swiped the back of his hand over his damp forehead and glimpsed pink as he pushed his bangs from his eyes. Sakura gave him no time to say a thing about how it was impossible for her to be there, with him, and instead pried his sword from his hands and nudged him to take a seat at the single bench against the wall.

"You've been training too hard again, look at your hands…" Sakura sighed, pulling his fingers into hers, holding a roll of white bandages into her right hand. Sasuke said nothing, let his eyes close at the sight of her. He knew it was a dream, now more than ever—Sakura had never seen him train under Orochimaru, but seeing her provided him real comfort. Even in a dream, though, he could never say so.

"Let me," he said to her, plucking the bandages from her hands. Now Sasuke noticed that Sakura's own fingers were bandaged individually, and her short hair was pulled back into a small ponytail at the nape of her neck, as though she had just gotten back from training herself. He mimicked her bandaging, wrapping his hands in the same fashion as hers before holding them up for her to examine.

Sakura nodded and smiled at him, but Sasuke was at a loss for words when he noticed how threadbare her smile was, how fragile and gossamer. Her eyes held little else besides sadness, and he was numb as she leaned down to ghost her hands over the already-bandaged portions of his arms, where he had injured himself before.

He glanced up at her, and Sakura shook her head, tears pooling in her green eyes, spilling as she pressed her lips into a line. Sasuke's own eyes widened, and he instinctively reached for her, his hands pressed tightly at the bends of her arms. "Sakura," he heard himself say.

Sakura shook her head again, face obscured by her pale, bandaged hands. Sasuke grimaced, hating nothing more in that moment than himself; in every world, he would somehow always manage to make her cry. He reached up to cup her face, slowly, but just as his fingertips grazed her jawline, his vision faded to black and she was gone.

Sasuke stood from the bench that had disappeared from under him, his arms extended at his sides, searching for Sakura in his blindness. He yelled her name over and over again, only to be answered by deranged echoes of his own screams. When he finally caught hold of something, Sasuke jolted awake under a sky that was almost as dark as it had been in his dreams.

He slumped against the bark of the tree behind him, hands cold with sweat in his lap, and when he reached up to touch his face, his fingers came back damp with tears. He clasped his hands together and found himself thinking, though, that he wouldn't mind the aching of his chest and how much he missed her if she could wake up that morning with a smile.


	14. chapter 14

**title** : this is being called "chapter 14" until further notice, please let me know if you have any ideas bc jfc i'm running out  
 **prompt** : #14 - hunger  
 **summary** : in which family dinners at the haruno household include five minute long hugs, staring contests, and broken chopsticks.

* * *

Sasuke arrived at Sakura's front step a good seven minutes earlier than the time they had agreed on, but the door still swung open as he climbed the stairs, Sakura's mother smiling down at him from the gap of the door. Sasuke offered her a smile, and she welcomed him in graciously, engulfing him in a hug before he could do as much as bend down to take off his shoes.

"My, my, you've gotten even taller since the last time I've seen you, Sasuke!" Mebuki chortled, refusing to let go of him even after a moment or so. "Oh, you're all tense! Relax, everyone's family here."

Sakura made an apologetic face at Sasuke from behind her mother, but despite his nerves, the word 'family' curved his lips. He and Sakura had been together for a long time, and her mother had already come to consider him a part of the household and always wanted to make him feel at home.

Sakura tugged him away soon enough, and they meandered down the hallway, Mebuki following close behind, laughing from behind her fingers. "Look, Sasuke, I made her jealous!" she teased, seeming to want to illicit some form of reaction from her daughter.

Sakura sighed and pressed her right palm to her forehead, and Sasuke ducked his head in attempt to hide his laughter before choking as she punched him in the shoulder, barely holding back.

Upon them entering the kitchen, Kizashi immediately put down the newspaper he had been reading at the table and stood to greet Sasuke, who stiffly stuck out a hand. "Hello, sir."

"Hello, Sasuke," Kizashi responded, his voice sounding unnaturally grave for someone so light-hearted. He was staring him square in the eye, almost seeming to wordlessly challenge Sasuke to a staring contest that Sasuke lost in all his confusion. Kizashi's grip was incredibly strong around Sasuke's hand, and Sasuke barely managed a sort of wince-smile.

A hearty laugh escaped Kizashi's lips at Sasuke's expression. "Say, Sasuke, when are you going to start calling me 'otousan'?"

Sasuke coughed slightly, trying to meet Kizashi's eyes again but failing. "Actually, that's part of the reason I'm here today—"

"Ah, that's right! Sakura invited you to dinner again. I hope you like my cooking, but you've come over often enough so I imagine you must be used to it by now." Kizashi gave another good-natured laugh and reached for his newspaper.

Sasuke stood in place for a moment, wondering if Kizashi had realized where the conversation was going and cut him short on purpose but shrugged it off as Sakura dragged him to the dinner table.

Together, they gave their thanks for the food and began to eat.

The first portion of their meal was comfortably quiet, and Sasuke was halfway done with his food when Mebuki piped up. "Sasuke, do you remember back in you and Sakura's academy days, when she had long hair?" she asked, and Sasuke heard Sakura drop her chopsticks from beside him. "Did you know she grew it long for you?"

The chopsticks clattered against the floor a second time, and Sasuke heard the poor sticks being broken in half as Sakura bent down to pick them up. The color rushed to her face as she sat straight up again.

Sasuke's fingers were cool against the dewy surface of his glass of ice water, and he swallowed a smile. "I didn't know," he said.

Mebuki clasped her hands together. "Oh, but she did!" she exclaimed. "I clearly remember her telling me she heard Sasuke-kun liked girls with long hair. But it ended up short in the end, though, hm?"

"Either way is nice. I…like both."

Mebuki beamed, and Sakura hand came up to balance her chin above the table as she muttered 'kissass' beneath her breath. As she turned away scowling, Mebuki figured she was probably trying to hide the flush of her face and stifled a giggle.

Sakura excused herself to fetch a new pair of chopsticks, and Sasuke returned to his meal.

As Kizashi offered Sasuke a second plate, Sasuke paused, before clearing his throat. "Sir, I have something to ask you," he said, tentatively.

"Otousan," was all Kizashi said, waving his hand.

"Er, right…o-otousan, I have something to ask you," Sasuke said, attempting the word.

"And what would that be?"

At the question, the entire speech Sasuke had spent the prior week carefully memorizing slipped his mind. Sakura stilled beside him, and he made the decision to skip the speech completely and get to the point: "I'd like to ask for your daughter's hand in m—"

Kizashi cut Sasuke off with another soundless challenge at a staring contest.

This time, they called it off at a draw.

He took a swig of water and met Sasuke's gaze. "So, Sasuke, what is it you like about my daughter?"

Sasuke brought his own glass of water to his lips, placed it down, and pushed aside the last of his hunger as he began to speak, lips curved in the slightest of smiles.


	15. ablaze

**title** : ablaze  
 **prompt** : #15 - eye of the storm  
 **summary** : "my place has always been with you."

* * *

The medics come for Naruto first, swarming his body, loud and alive as they pull him onto a large stretcher. As he leans back, Naruto glimpses Sasuke still lying against the broken earth, Sakura kneeling beside him, and he immediately starts at the sight of his friend going unattended when he bears the same depth of injuries.

"Oi, put me down," he tells the medics surrounding his stretcher, waving a hand. "Sasuke first."

The medics exchange glances, and one at his right side shakes her head. "Hokage's orders are to get you, as of now," she says, firmly.

Naruto frowns at the vague distaste of her tone. "But –"

"The next group will come for him."

They whisk him away then, leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone. Around them, a whirlwind comes alive of surrounding shinobi searching for teammates gone astray, checking with friends, mourning with others, and a wide circle seems to separate the pair from all else, no one breaking its perimeter to see either of the two.

Sasuke grimaces slightly, and Sakura notices the change of his features within a second, her hands glowing green over the bleeding wound where his left arm used to be.

She bites her lower lip. "How are you feeling, Sasuke-kun?"

Despite the pain, he finds it in himself to half-smile. "Sasuke-kun?" he repeats, "not 'you big jerk'?"

"You're still a jerk," she tells him, voice trembling with a shaky laugh as she lifts a hand to his forehead, smoothing away his bangs, "but still, how are you feeling?"

Sasuke watches as the laughter melts from her face to be replaced with a reminiscent expression. He startles as he glimpses the shine of tears over her eyes, but his arm is leaden and he hates that he can't reach out toward her—

Quickly, almost frantically, he assures her, "I'm fine now."

Sakura listens close enough to hear: _because of you._

A smile breaks her features, and Sasuke can breathe again.

For a while, they are silent as the world around them is ablaze. Sasuke exhales, and he can hear the rush and crackle of the flames between the gentle ghosting of Sakura's fingers over his wounds and scars. It almost feels as though he is underwater, watching everything take place from somewhere far away, alone save for Sakura.

He is suddenly overwhelmed with guilt that she is with him instead of with the people she loves and deserves and belongs with.

"Sakura," he says, grasping her wrist. "Don't you have people to be with right now?"

Sakura smiles softly and shakes her head, hair fanning about her chin, and warmth fills Sasuke to his bones. "No," she says, "my place has always been with you."


	16. aurora

**title** : aurora  
 **prompt** : #16 - "even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise"  
 **summary** : some things never change, he muses.  
 **a/n** : set after yesterday's prompt but can stand alone :-)

* * *

Despite the muted pain still resonating through him, Sasuke wakes comfortably, not sprawled out on the softest portion of forest dirt he could find, curled in the warmest corner of a frigid chamber only illuminated by a single oil lamp, or laid back against a threadbare bed that would creak and protest with every breath. He wakes in the main Konoha hospital, soft sheets drawn over him, sunlight filtering through blinds in luminescent columns.

The silence of the room makes it easy for Sasuke to listen the steady rhythm of the heart rate monitor beside him, and it is positive reassurance that despite everything, he is alive. Many a restless night has he woken with the overwhelming need to close his eyes and shut off the world for a few minutes longer, but today he is thankful that he is awake and breathing. He inhales, the new feeling rushing through him.

When he turns his head to glance over to the side of his bed, he notices Sakura still asleep, her body leaned over from the chair she had brought to his bedside, face lax against the white of the mattress. Even in her sleeping state, the sight of her fills him with comfort. He feels a smile coming on at the thought that his darkest nights are finally are over.

Sasuke lifts a hand to wipe away the strands of hair clouding Sakura's face, just as she had done for him the day before, and drops two fingers against the diamond seal at her forehead. He swells with pride as he thinks of how she has come so far since her youth, their earliest genin days, but even with all her changes and growth, he knows Sakura is still Sakura, and she is as sunbright and unwavering and lionhearted as she has always been. He is thankful for this.

He closes his eyes and returns to the prior day, remembering how Sakura was at his side through it all. Some things never change, he muses.

His vision blackens, but although it becomes dark again, his sun rises eventually, stretching her arms over her head and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Sasuke feels her fingers curve at his wrist and leans in to her touch.

"Good morning," says the sun, and the moon finds himself thinking that he has never witnessed a sunrise that has been any more beautiful.

A smile graces his lips. "Good morning," says the moon.


	17. close the distance

**title** : close the distance  
 **prompt** : #17 - raw  
 **summary** : for a moment she wishes they were young and naïve again.  
 **a/n** : again set after the previous prompts but can stand alone :-)

* * *

Sasuke is a bit off once he's discharged from the hospital, Sakura thinks. He's a bit too quiet as they round out of the building, a bit too distanced, a bit too lost in his own thoughts.

They turn onto the sidewalk leading away from the building, Sasuke just a hand's width from Sakura. He has yet to say a thing since they left his room, and Sakura wrinkles her nose at the realization.

She glances up at him. "Sasuke-kun, how's your pain?"

"Fine," he answers her, shrugging.

"Could you rate your pain on a scale of one to ten?" Sakura asks, attempting to wave off the vague answer. "One being close to nothing and ten being the pain if I were to punch you in the face or something similar."

There's a beat of silence before he answers. "A two, I guess," he says.

Sakura squints at him in disbelief, trying to decide if the pain medicine he was given somehow worked miracles or if it's simply his arrogance speaking, but she is otherwise content with the fact he isn't in explicit pain.

Quiet resumes, their footsteps falling more or less in sync.

Sasuke's pace quickens slightly step by step, and Sakura can't help but wonder if the chasm that has etched its place between them through the years he spent away from Konoha is resurfacing, separating them again even after their reunion. She pushes the thought away, but it pulses at the corner of her mind, a mantra of a warning, as their physical distance increases.

Even as Sakura increases the speed of her steps, Sasuke's strides are longer and carry him forward without her. She wilts as she thinks about how much he has grown since the last time she's seen him—taller, stronger, _further_.

For a moment she wishes they were young and naïve again, and she comes to a stop as she loses herself in the thought.

Sasuke turns back at the absence of Sakura trailing behind him, raising his eyebrows at her hesitating form. "Sakura?"

"Is something…wrong?" she asks, carefully.

Sasuke's features soften at the emotion weighing down her words. He glimpses the raw fear in her eyes, approaches her wordlessly, hesitating only a breath before pulling her to his chest.

"Not anymore," he assures her, and suddenly they are young again and nothing is as heavy as it once was. It is just the two of them, and the chasm that had been threatening to deepen between them has been filled with sediment.


	18. find your way home

**title** : find your way home  
 **prompt** : #18 - out of the woods  
 **summary** : "i'll - we'll all be waiting for you here, always."

* * *

It was a blindingly bright day when Sasuke took his last step out of the woods and let Konoha come into view ahead of him. Even from such a distance away, he could clearly see the tall welcome-gate and even the Hokage Mountain surrounding the village in an embrace, and despite everything that had happened in Konoha, it was warming to finally see it after such a long time of simply wandering the world.

Sasuke increased the pace of his footsteps forward, wondering if he could ever come to call Konoha home again. Even though he had lost almost everything and everyone he had ever loved there, it was comforting to know that perhaps one day he could start over again.

To his past self, returning to the village had never been part of the plan. He had mapped out everything he had wanted to accomplish and eventually crossed each item off his list, and at the end of it all, he had decided to go and see the world for himself, with his own eyes and new clarity.

But as for what he would do when he returned—he supposed he would start with relearning how to live as he once had, long ago. After all, he had promised Sakura. He had promised her he would return and see her when he came back, and though years had passed since that promise, he hoped she knew it was still alive as ever.

Morning had faded into afternoon by the time Sasuke passed under the Konoha welcome-gate. He walked the main road, the first people he recognized being Shikamaru and a blonde girl from Suna ambling down the sidewalk.

They both looked surprised to see him pass by, and Shikamaru hesitated before lifting a hand in greeting. "It's been a while," he said, as Sasuke nodded a hello.

On his way to the hospital, Sasuke passed Ichiraku's and was nearly tackled to the ground by a certain blond who was, naturally, dining there for lunch. Hinata quickly jumped up to restrain Naruto and welcomed Sasuke, who couldn't help but lift his lips at the sight of the two.

After Naruto yelled at Sasuke for not coming back to the village sooner and a tearful 'see you later', the blond shoved his friend on his way to the hospital, where he took a seat on the stairs leading inside.

He waited a while until he glimpsed the vaguely familiar face of his former replacement. "Hello, Traitor-kun," Sai said politely, before peering inside.

Ino emerged moments later, her jaw dropping and eyes widening upon seeing Sasuke. She rushed to him, pulling Sai along. "Sasuke-kun?" she said, in a voice just above a whisper. "Is that you?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I think so."

Ino clapped her hands before fanning herself with them. "Wait until Sakura comes out here," she gushed, rocking back and forth on her feet. "Forehead's going to be so happy…"

Sasuke watched Ino and Sai stroll away, Ino grasping onto Sai's arm as she chattered off about Sasuke and Sakura.

The sky had dimmed into later afternoon by the time Sakura made her way out of the hospital. Sasuke stood at the sight of her, and she froze in place upon seeing him waiting.

"Hi— " Sasuke started, only to be cut off by Sakura throwing her arms around him.

"Hi," she echoed breathlessly.

Perhaps he had always known she would be the start of Konoha becoming his home again.


	19. chapter 19

**title** : -  
 **prompt** : #19 - blood  
 **summary** : sarada has never been too fond of heights, but papa's hands are strong and steady holding her in place and she is not afraid.

* * *

Papa's not one for physical contact: he doesn't hold Sarada's hand like Chouchou's father tries to when he's in an awfully good mood, or hug her tight around her middle, like the Seventh does with Himawari. Sarada notices this, accepts it, but some days she can't help but feel the slightest bit jealous.

Mama confronts Papa about it one night, her voice all fire and scorched at the edges. Even Sarada is afraid as she eavesdrops from behind the bedroom door, the floor cold beneath her knees.

Papa tries to calm her down and tells Mama that she of all people should know how important she and Sarada are to him. Don't worry, he tells her. Papa is gentle as he smooths back her hair.

But Mama needs a better answer than that. Her irises are aflame, and Sarada wonders how Papa can withstand the heat of her eyes. Mama's voice is rigid and unwavering when she asks him why he doesn't treat Sarada like a daughter when she's waited so long, her entire life, for him. She loves you with everything that she is, Mama says.

Papa is silent for a long while, and Sarada has time to wonder if Papa didn't want her. She bites her lip and pushes the thought away with every fiber of her being.

After a moment, Papa says that sometimes he can still see the blood staining his hands from all the people he's wounded, all the people he's struck down and killed. He speaks slowly and quiets all at once before showing Mama his palms, turning them skyward.

It is Mama's turn to be still. She understands.

Sarada peeks through the gap of the door again and sees Papa staring down at his hands. From where she sits, she can see that they are as clean and bare as ever, save for a pale scar or two, but perhaps he doesn't see them that way.

I can't touch a child with these hands— _my_ child, Papa says, softly. His voice is hollow, and Sarada has never heard him speak like this.

Mama is gentler now, and when she reaches for Papa, he folds her to his chest. They are like that for a while, and Sarada smiles at the sight of them, warmed to the bone.

Papa learns slowly, steadily. One day they walk to the supermarket together, and he catches Sarada's hand as she swings it at her side. She is wholly surprised but says nothing, and Papa is silent himself. There is a soft smile alight on his face and she shares it.

Papa's hand is broad and so much larger than Sarada's, his skin almost rough against hers, but nevertheless, Sarada squeezes Papa's hand in hers, the distance between their palms dwindling. From beside them, Mama beams, her arm linked with Papa's.

Another day they take a trip to a fruit orchard as a family, and Sarada is too short to reach the low growing apples so Papa scoops her up and sits her atop his shoulders. Sarada laughs and picks four apples: one for Papa, one for Mama, one for herself, and another to bring home for Chouchou, even though Chouchou more or less despises fruit and vegetables and everything healthy.

It's the thought that counts, Sarada muses. She tilts her head upward and feels as if she could touch the clouds. She has never been too fond of heights, but Papa's hands are strong and steady holding her in place and Sarada is not afraid.

It's many days later when Papa has to leave on a mission and Sarada wakes at daybreak to see him off. She stumbles into the kitchen, where Mama is helping him pack enough lunches for the days he'll be gone. Sarada rubs her eyes, and Mama offers her a bite of tomato from one of the many bento boxes.

Sarada declines at once, wanting Papa to have more than enough of his favorite food during the time he'll be away from home, and instead swipes a piece of sweet egg since he doesn't like them nearly as much.

Papa hugs Mama tight after she hands him a bundle of food, kissing her forehead before the corner of her mouth. Mama laughs brightly, and then Papa turns to Sarada.

Blood rushes to Sarada's face and she blushes, unsure of what to do, but when Papa opens his arms, she runs into them easily. His grasp is strong and she feels so at home.

In a quiet voice, she tells him she loves him.

She can hear the smile in Papa's words when he tells her that he loves her even more.


	20. tranquility

**title** : tranquility  
 **prompt** : #20 - anniversary  
 **summary** : home has never felt more like home.

* * *

Sarada wakes early, as usual, reaching over to her bedside table as she sits up, fumbling for her glasses. As her vision clears and focuses, her eyes dart to the calendar hung on the wall across the room—today's date is outlined in neat, red lines, and a smile finds her lips.

With a single movement, Sarada tosses off her blankets in excitement before tucking them over her mattress, fingers fanning out to smooth away wrinkles. She passes through her bedroom door, bare feet pattering against the wooden floor beneath her.

Rushing down the hallway, she passes the front door of the house. Papa's slippers are cast by the welcome mat, where they have been for an entire year by now since Papa hates wearing slippers, even though Mama always urges him to put them on, especially during the winter.

The shelves of the sitting room are now riddled with various family pictures, accumulated from the duration of the year in which Papa has been home. Sarada smiles at her favorites: one of Mama and Papa out in the garden planting tomatoes, one of Papa carrying Sarada piggyback-style and making a peace sign at the camera, and a family portrait Mama asked the Seventh to take on Sarada's birthday. Mama's poking Papa to stop scowling at the Seventh, Papa's scowling at the Seventh, and Sarada's in the middle, smiling brightly.

The Seventh's pinky finger somehow made it into the picture, and Papa blamed him for doing such a terrible job later.

Gaze running over each framed photograph, Sarada sighs happily. Home has never felt more like home.

When she enters the kitchen, breakfast is already laid out over the table, each dish homemade and warm. Even with just a glance, Sarada can tell what Mama prepared (she most likely cut the strawberries, tomatoes for Papa, and the other diced fruits) and what Papa prepared (steaming cups of green tea, white rice). She can tell they made the miso soup together, taking turns to stir the pot and watch for bubbles, as well as the steaming fresh fish with grill marks written across its skin.

Mama and Papa are outside in the early sunlight following yesterday's light shower, seated on a bench they all made together in the backyard, and Sarada sees them from the kitchen window. They are still and quiet together, but comfortable in each other's presence, as they always are. Mama's leaned against Papa, no distance between them, and his arm is draped around her, pulling her close. They sit in the sun together, not saying a word.

But there is so much being said, Sarada knows this by now. Papa and Mama have their own way of speaking without sound. Papa's fingertips are tracing love into the palms of Mama's hands, and when she tilts her chin up at him and beams, it speaks a million novels. There's a gentle curve to Papa's lips, the simplest of smiles, but Mama knows how much it means.

"Anata," Sarada hears Mama say, as she kneels by the window, the curtain a shawl over her shoulders. She holds her breath, making sure to be absolutely silent. "Look at the birds..."

A pair of bluebirds flies past, and Papa watches them chase after one another, making loops and spirals. He leans closer to her. "They seem to be enjoying the sun after yesterday's rain," Papa says. He then gestures to their garden, the leaves of their plants speckled with drops of dew and rain. "And the strawberry plant's blooming nicely."

Mama hums, nodding. "I think it's safe to say all of them are. This year's growing season has been better than ever."

Sarada feels the corners of her lips rise; she can't remember her parents any other way. They have always been Mama and Papa as easily as breathing, balanced and stable.

Papa turns around when Sarada places a hand against the surface window. He and Mama smile at her.

"Come join us, Sarada," Papa says.

And so she does, at once, dashing out to the backyard, her feet still bare. There is a spot on the bench next to Mama saved just for her.


	21. colors

**title** : colors  
 **prompt** : #21 - midlife crisis  
 **summary** : in which uchiha sasuke claims to be old and gray, and uchiha sakura is still as bright and colorful as ever.

Sakura bolted up in bed at the chirp of the earliest bird, as she often did these days, pulling the blankets with her and leaving her still half-asleep husband grimacing at the sudden cold that rushed over him.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, and Sasuke vaguely felt her drop a clenched fist onto her knee for emphasis. "You and I—we're going to travel the world."

Sasuke rolled over to face her, arms drawn around himself as he shivered from the lack of blanketing draped over him. "Wh—again?" he asked, thinking back to the day they had done so before, just the two of them.

Sakura nodded, patting his hair as he inched closer to her, face pressed to her side as his arms made their way around her torso. "Yes, again. I'd like to see the world again."

She heard Sasuke sigh into the fabric of her shirt and scowled as she saw that his eyes were still closed, the trail of drool at the corner of his lips still unwiped. Sakura nudged him, wiggling side to side, and his arms around her tightened, as if to keep her in place. She pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wake up, old man," she chided.

Sasuke's eyes slipped open, and he peered up at his wife, frowning. "You may be as young and lively as you've always been, but have some pity on me, will you? Look at me, I'm old and gray." He made a face, contorting his features in what Sakura took to be his best old man impersonation.

She couldn't help but laugh, and Sasuke smiled at the comforting sound. Throughout the years, despite how they had grown and aged, Sakura's laugh had remained the same. Sakura was still as Sakura as ever.

"That's not what you were saying a few days ago when we went to visit Sarada," Sakura said. "You promised to play with the grandkids every week once they're grown enough."

"An old and gray man can probably still play with his grandkids."

Sakura laughed again. "Quit it, will you?" she said. "You make it sound as if you aren't as in-shape as ever."

"How flattering of you to say so. I'm honored."

Sakura snorted, her fingers knotting into Sasuke's hair. "Your personality hasn't aged a day…which is why—which is why I think it'd be a great idea for us to travel the world together again!" Sakura snapped her fingers twice, proud of herself for linking them back to their prior subject. "Because I can't get enough of my dear husband's personality!"

Sasuke grunted, knowing Sakura wasn't one to easily give up on her propositions. Languidly, he pulled himself into a sitting position beside her. "So…you want to leave Konoha for a little while to see the world again, like we did before?"

Sakura beamed at him. "Exactly that, yes."

"And I suppose you'd like to just pack a few things, sell the rest of everything else we have, and leave?"

Sakura brought her hand to her chin, seeming as if she were seriously thinking it through. "Well, now that you mentioned it—"

"Sakura," Sasuke said, slowly, "are you…unhappy with your life here?"

"Of course not," Sakura replied. "I've always been happy here with you. It's just that life for us has settled into this never-ending cycle, and I really wanted to see Suna, and maybe Ame again…"

"Then we'll go visit for a while."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Really?"

Sasuke nodded. "As long as we're not reselling this house. We just finished repaying the mortgage recently…"

Sasuke nearly toppled over as Sakura threw her arms around him. A small smile lit his face—it was, after all, the third time she had brought it up that week.

"Careful with my brittle old man bones, Sakura…"


	22. where the light enters

**title** : where the light enters  
 **prompt** : #22 - baby shoes  
 **summary** : lights, quiet heartbeats, and tiny shinobi sandals.  
 **a/n** : halfway inspired by hemingway's "for sale: baby shoes, never worn." this was probably my favorite prompt.

* * *

The first lights of the day have barely streaked across the sky when Sakura shouts for Sasuke. He wakes immediately, alarmed by the nature of her voice, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he tumbles out of bed to find her. She is seated by the small window of their bedroom in the humble cottage they secured for themselves at the edge of Iwagakure, where they are close enough to taste the sea.

Once Sasuke's vision clears, he notices Sakura clutching her stomach and rushes to her side in a heartbeat, his own pulsing in his ears. The swell of her baby bump has grown in the past few months, but her hands can still fan out over its surface.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura says, and her voice is unlike anything he has ever heard. She beckons him closer. "Come here…"

Sasuke kneels beside her, letting her take his broad hands in her smaller ones to place them over her belly. In silence, they wait.

Slowly, and then all at once, Sasuke feels movement beneath Sakura's skin, and his eyes are wide, and Sakura is smiling and crying all at once, her hands just barely trembling on top of his. "The baby is so alive," Sakura breathes, and Sasuke inhales her words, unable to move. "You and I, I think we have a little shinobi on our hands."

Sasuke tilts his head to peer up at Sakura, welcoming the way his heart swells with happiness at her words. He pulls her hands into his. "How are you feeling?" he asks her, thumbing circles into her skin.

She smiles at him, face damp but tear ducts empty. "I," she says, "have never felt better."

—

* * *

A month and a half later, Sasuke and Sakura begin their journey moving south, bound for the Konoha border. Home has never been so far away, but home has never felt so close.

They follow the sound of the sea as they move down the coast of Iwa, Sasuke adopting a languid pace of travel for Sakura's sake, only to have her laugh and assure him she is absolutely capable of a more reasonable speed. Thus, Sasuke takes her hand, and they fall into step, making for Konoha, but in truth, there is no reason to rush—Sakura estimates her due date to be in approximately four months.

They wander into a modest village near the water's edge, where it seems visitors are rare, and they are welcomed warmly by its citizens, who fawn over Sakura's growing belly. The hubbub catches the attention of the village doctor, who offers a check-up and scan, which Sakura graciously accepts.

The doctor smiles and presses a rice cake into Sasuke's nervous hands as she helps Sakura onto the bed, and they spend the next minutes examining the illuminated screen centered over Sakura's feet. They come to the unanimous decision that a boy should be expected, and Sakura is all smiles when she looks to Sasuke for his reaction.

A laugh escapes the doctor as Sasuke is at a loss for words.

Sakura reaches out for him. "He's happy."

—

* * *

When they reach the broadest outskirts of Konoha, they have a small house built by people who do not recognize them. They don't move to the heart of the country, where they were both born and raised, just yet. Soon, they agree, soon they will return. The baby would grow up in the same place his parents did.

But for now, they shop at another small village whose citizens know not of their names. Sakura picks out paint in a shade of forget-me-not blue, and they build their first nursery together, buying the sturdiest of cribs, the softest of baby clothes, the brightest of toys and plush animals. There is a wide window that they always keep open to let in the light, and they fill the nursery with everything that is warmth and familial and home.

Sasuke displays the few pictures he brought with him where the baby's bedside is to be, and Sakura fills a large, clear vase with fresh flowers from the fields behind their home, arranging them in a way that would make Ino proud.

One day, they set out to buy the last finishing touches for the nursery, and Sasuke stumbles upon shinobi sandals small enough to be worn by even a newborn child. He picks the shoes up gingerly and places them in the palm of his hand, looking over them wordlessly, wide-eyed.

Sakura smiles and plucks them from his grip, dropping them in the shopping basket he's carrying.

"I love them," she says.

Sasuke inhales softly. "Me, too."

—

* * *

Sakura's water breaks two months too early, and Sasuke's mind is blank and screaming all at the same time as he gathers her in his arms and rushes her to the local hospital.

He has enough composure to notice how pale Sakura looks laid against the hospital white of the bed, but he is numb even as her grip is unworldly strong around his hand as she goes into labor. All he hears is Sakura's voice screaming out in pain, the voices of the doctors and nurses slipping past him.

When Sakura finally has their son in her arms, Sasuke regains heightened senses, feels the warmth of his son's skin, the pulse of his heart quietly beating.

The first lights of the day are slowly making their way across the sky as Sakura cradles their son to her chest. "Satoru," she whispers to him, "written like daybreak."

"Satoru," Sasuke repeats, nodding.

Satoru stops crying at the sound of his newly christened name and stares at his parents with wide, dark eyes. Sasuke's eyes.

The boy blinks a few times before his lips curve upward in a smile. Sakura's smile.

Moments later, the smile fades and Satoru's eyes darken and close, and the doctors whisk their son from their grip, even though Sakura had been holding on to him so protectively and so close to her heart. Sakura is sobbing, and Sasuke feels time tick by without him.

—

* * *

"I'm sorry," the doctor tells them, later.

She must have said those words a million times because by now, they hold no meaning, and Sasuke and Sakura can barely comprehend what she means.

All they hear is what she does not say: _he's gone._

—

* * *

Sakura is perhaps the strongest person Sasuke has ever met, but she cries for days, as if her heart has become an ocean, and nothing has ever pained him more. They sit at the floor beneath the windowsill in their bedroom, together, in silence.

Sakura's ear is centered at Sasuke's chest, where his heartbeat sounds, and Sasuke's fingers are curled at Sakura's neck, so he can faintly feel the rhythm of own her heart beneath her skin. Sakura's tears are steadily dripping onto the fabric of Sasuke's shirt, but it is reassurance that she is alive.

They have lost their sense of time once Sasuke has reclaimed some control over his voice, so they are unsure of how long they have been grasping onto each other when he finally speaks.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke says. The words are heartbreaking this time around.

Sakura pulls away, gripping his shirt. "Please, don't be," she chokes. "It's not your fault."

"I'm sorry," Sasuke repeats. It becomes a mantra until he's uttered the words more than the doctor ever will in her entire career: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

 _(I'm sorry I did this to you, I'm sorry I did this to him, I'm sorry I did this to us.)_

She clenches her teeth, quivering, but the tears still flow.

Sasuke catches a glimpse of himself in the sea of her eyes, and he realizes that he, too, has been crying the entire time along with her.

—

* * *

Eventually, they close the door of the nursery and learn how to walk again, step by step, but they don't forget Satoru, his first daybreak, and the light in his eyes.

—

* * *

It is another two years later when Sasuke helps Sakura into the hospital bed, her belly swollen a second time. Her trembling hands slip out of his shaking ones, and Sasuke nearly misses each time he attempts to grab them again. He hovers over the bed, the chair behind him pushed aside, and Sakura smiles up at him nervously, pressing her lips together.

"I'm – okay," she whispers, between a wince, but her voice is unsteady, and Sasuke is not convinced. He meets her eyes, saying nothing, and Sakura manages another smile, reaching up and pulling him toward her. She brushes her lips against his cheekbone, and Sasuke stills.

"I'm okay, really," she says again.

Karin is there to help deliver their child and Sasuke trusts her with everything he has, but he can barely move from Sakura's side, his fingers locked with hers.

Sakura places her free hand atop her belly. "She's going to be okay, too, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke closes his eyes and tells every fiber of his being to believe her.

—

* * *

Sakura perhaps crushes every bone in Sasuke's hand, but he does not wince, not once.

—

* * *

When Sarada stops crying, Sakura passes her to Sasuke, who holds her so carefully that Sakura is warmed just by looking at them. They both keep their eyes locked on her during each second that passes, monitoring the curves of her face, the redness of her cheeks.

Sarada rubs a small, closed hand over her cheek, and smiles up at her parents.

"She has your eyes," Sakura tells Sasuke.

"And your smile," Sasuke tells Sakura.

After a beat, Sakura says, "She looks just like him."

Sasuke pulls her closer to his chest and silently agrees.

—

* * *

When they take Sarada home, Sakura opens the nursery door for the first time in years and pulls open a drawer, reaching inside for the little shinobi sandals they had bought years ago. Sasuke enters the room after her, Sarada still in his arms, and sits down at the couch in front of the crib.

Sakura takes a seat beside him and shifts Sarada's blankets so that her tiny feet can be seen. The shoes fit perfectly, and Sakura beams at her shinobi daughter.

She will be strong like her father, lionhearted like her mother—a light like her brother still is.

She looks so much like him, and Sasuke and Sakura hope that one day they can convey to her that Satoru would have loved her more than anything, had he had the chance to see her smile just once.


	23. two's company

**title** : two's company  
 **prompt** : #23 - plural  
 **summary** : and three's a crowd.  
 **a/n** : sorry about the delay on some of these chapters! i wrote most of them last month, but i really rushed through them, so i just wanted to spend some extra time editing to make sure everything is alright!

* * *

Naruto visits Sasuke and Sakura's shared home for the first time in the heart of the winter, quickly ushering both his friends inside the moment Sasuke unlocks the door. He attempts to get all of them through the door at the same time, and the trio crashes to the floor, Naruto being the first one to help himself up and survey the newly decorated home.

"What a nice place!" Naruto exclaims, Sasuke and Sakura still face down against the wood.

Sasuke sighs in exasperation as he stands up. "Welcome in," he says, flatly, rolling his eyes. "Make yourself at home."

Naruto takes off to the sitting room as Sasuke extends a hand to Sakura. He swings her forward, and they hear Naruto tossing himself onto their couch. "Amazing," Naruto says from the other room, staying still as he sinks into the sofa seat. "So how is living together going for you two?"

Everyone is quiet for a moment, and Naruto sinks further into the sofa.

Sasuke snorts. "None of your business, idiot."

Sakura rushes forward before the sofa can swallow Naruto whole. "It's been great, Naruto," she says, grabbing onto his arm and yanking him free. "We still have a few more things to rearrange and buy, but it's been going well—"

"You two must have two of everything, huh?" Naruto says. "Can I have a house tour?"

They wander into the kitchen, and Naruto gravitates toward the pantry before Sasuke grabs him by the collar. "Relax, relax!" Naruto exclaims, lifting his hands up in surrender. "I'm not going to steal anything, and besides, you two only have gross healthy food anyway..." he makes a face, clutching his stomach, before reaching into his pockets to pull out a few packets of his favorite instant ramen.

"What the hell is that, Naruto?" Sasuke asks. He grimaces at the wide grin Naruto gives him.

"Housewarming gifts!" Naruto says. He begins rummaging through their food supply. A moment later, he leans back and laughs. "Is everything on the right yours, Sasuke? And everything on the left Sakura's?"

Sasuke shrugs, and Sakura pipes up, nodding, "He has a weird taste in food."

Naruto glances over Sasuke's side of the pantry and can't help but agree. "Sun-dried tomatoes? Really, Sasuke? What do you even use those for?"

Sasuke and Sakura follow Naruto closely as he closes the pantry and meanders to their kitchen table. A few scrolls lay out at one seat, while the other has newspapers neatly stacked into a small pile. Two identical mugs sit side by side, but when Naruto peers into them, their contents are very different.

Naruto strokes his chin. "Let me guess," he begins, "Sakura's are the newspapers and green tea, and Sasuke's are the scrolls and nasty-looking drink?"

Sakura gives him a high five, and Sasuke frowns. "…It's coffee."

Naruto forces them to show him around the rest of the house, and they drop by their shared bathroom. Naruto looks around.

"The gray towel is Sasuke's, and Sakura's is the pink one," he says. His analysis is quicker this time.

"That one was easy," Sasuke says. "Try the toothbrushes."

Naruto notices two blue toothbrushes, in slightly different shades. He thinks for a moment. "The lighter one is Sasuke's," he says, simply.

Sakura gives him another high five.

Naruto pushes through the door of the bathroom and enters into the bedroom, examining everything closely. "Ah, that's no fun… There's only one bed, and I'm sure you two share. Aw, that's cute…"

Sakura's coughs suddenly, and Sasuke clears his throat, ears turning red.

"…But if we bring another bed in here, maybe I could move in!"

Before Sakura can say a thing, Sasuke opens the door to the bedroom, motioning for Naruto to leave.

"Absolutely not," he says. "Absolutely not."


	24. future

**title** : future  
 **prompt** : #24 - day trip  
 **summary** : the thought of his future with sakura makes sasuke's heart soar.

* * *

They journey out to the edge of the country one morning, for a glimpse of the sea.

It is neither the warmest nor brightest of days, and the sky overhead seems to have broken into two, only to attempt to stitch itself back together with threads of clouds. There are slim columns of sunlight filtering down from the gaps between the thick clouds, though, illuminating the beach as they reflect off the water, and Sasuke decides that it is enough.

His eyes skim the horizon, where the ocean seems to touch the sky in conversation. Sakura walks along the lip of the sea beside him, flecks of water splashing against his legs from the impact of her feet. She bends down a few steps later to trace the water with her fingertips before standing back up and pressing a small seashell into Sasuke's open hands.

The corners of his lips raise, and he lifts the shell to his right ear. "Is this the type of shell that lets you hear the ocean?" he asks.

Sakura laughs lightly, pulling his hand away from his ear. "No, Sasuke-kun," she says, "This one's just a normal scallop shell. But I'm sure we could find one if we looked."

Sasuke watches as the ocean pulls Sakura a few spaces from him. She slips the shell into a pocket of her dress and takes to peering into the surface of the water, in search of other shells. He reaches down to fold his pant legs up a little higher and meets her side.

The sea is cold to the touch, and it is no wonder that the beach is nearly empty, save for a few people walking down the sand. Sakura reaches down to skim the water with her hands again.

"Did you visit the sea often as a kid?" Sasuke asks, quietly.

Sakura glances up at him for a moment before following his eyes to the horizon. "Not too often, but my parents and I sometimes visited in the summer when the weather was nice."

"I don't think I've ever really been," Sasuke says. He pauses for a beat. "Is it nice in the summer?"

Sakura takes his hand, nodding. "Don't worry," she tells him. "I'll take you back here during the summer so you can see it for yourself. It's beautiful, really. The ocean becomes this lovely, saturated crystal-blue. And if we ever…"

Sasuke glances at Sakura, who has lifted a hand to her neck, her cheeks flushing. He raises his eyebrows. "If we ever?"

She smiles up at him, nervously. "If we ever have kids, we'll take them here during the summer, so we can all see it again together."

He is quiet for a moment, before squeezing her hand and returning the smile. "I look forward to it," he says.

They look to the distance and glimpse a trio of birds soars up between the chasm in the sky to reach the light behind the clouds. Sakura's grip on Sasuke's hand tightens, and the thought of his future with her makes Sasuke's heart soar.


	25. growth

**title** : growth  
 **prompt** : #25 - "plant your trees, watch them grow"  
 **summary** : the growth cycle of a sprout named sarada, written in five.

* * *

 **i.**

Sarada is a mere sprout when they meet her the first time, when they hold her the first time in the garden they built together. Her cheeks are glowing and rosy, and she is so small but so alive and so ready to see the world with her sunbright eyes that shine with every ounce of potential she has.

Sakura smiles and thinks to herself that her daughter is the most beautiful thing she has ever seen. She has just sprouted, but Sakura can tell by that single first glance that she will grow tall and strong one day, in a way that would surpass her mother and father and their greatest wishes.

Sasuke can barely manage words when he holds Sarada moments after her birth, and Sakura lifts a hand to his arm to offer comfort in his silence. They quietly agree to shelter her with their own branches and leaves overhead until she is ready to support herself with the roots she will someday grow.

 **ii.**

They glimpse the first flower buds in her hair as she is learning to walk, her still-small hands locked into her theirs. The little buds bounce as she takes her first steps, and for such a young girl, her face holds so much determination.

Sakura watches the first bud bloom as she and Sasuke let her walk forward on her own, her tiny feet paving their own steps, and a whole three more buds blossom as her Sasuke picks her up and twirls her around in pride.

She is growing much faster now; she flowers more day by day, but they still make sure to water her roots because despite her fast growth, they know she still needs them.

 **iii.**

Sasuke has been gone for years and years, but Sarada has grown so much in his leave. The petals of her flowers are vibrant in color, stems stronger than ever, roots claiming the sturdiest of holds on the ground. She has been able to stand on her own for a while now, but in Sakura's eyes, she is still a small sprout, and she hasn't changed her mind about the way she thinks she is the most beautiful plant in the garden.

But Sakura's sprout has a few weeds in her hair now, around her wrists, tied across her ankles.

Sakura's heart pangs as her daughter demands answers, and there is anger, distrust in her voice. There is still light in her eyes, but it shines differently now.

Sakura's eyes soften, and she pulls Sarada closer until she calms, pulling the dandelions and clovers from her skin so they will not steal the nutrients that she needs. She finds a single four leaf clover hidden in her hair and gives it to Sarada for good luck.

 **iv.**

Sasuke is there for Sarada's chuunin exams, and Sarada has never looked more resilient. Her roots are so stable that even the harshest of winds will not sway her, and the bark keeping her upright makes sure she is always standing tall, her leaves touching to the sky.

Sasuke has never seen a plant breathe flames, but his daughter can, and the fire in her eyes is so alive that he knows he could never doubt the person she would become one day.

When the battle ends, her eyes return to their natural color as she wills away the flames, and she steps forward to help her beaten opponent to their feet again. She plucks a few flowers from her roots and presses them into their hands.

 **v.**

When Sarada is crowned Hokage many years in the future, her flowers are brighter than they have ever been. Sakura tries her best not to cry throughout the ceremony, and Sasuke is admittedly right there with her, repetitively dabbing at his eyes when he thinks no one is watching.

But Sarada notices, her face alight with her Papa's eyes and her Mama's smile.

Her branches have grown out so far that she knows she can shelter both her parents and her village both, though, so she has no worries. She tells Sasuke and Sakura that she will continue to grow alongside them no matter how far she is replanted or what sort of weather is to come, and when they pull her into their arms, she knows that they believe her.


	26. chapter 26

**title** : -  
 **prompt** : #26 - boarding school  
 **summary** : every pair of eyes on the quidditch pitch sees the bludger slam sasuke uchiha square in the face.

* * *

"Aaaaand another ten points to Slytherin!" the announcer shouts, voice miraculously carrying over the unrelenting roar of the crowd behind him. "That's 60-50, with Slytherin in the lead—!"

Groans sound from Sakura's left side, a mixture of her fellow Ravenclaw and Gryffindor friends shouting from the stands, and she grits her teeth as two voices soar above the rest, shrill and piercing:

"Come _on_ , Forehead!" screams Ino, vigorously waving a Ravenclaw flag despite being a Gryffindor herself. "You can't let them beat you guys again—this would be the third time this season!"

Ino screeches as Naruto pushes her over, cupping his hands around his mouth, as if his voice weren't loud enough already. "Kick their asses, Sakura! Especially Uchiha, kick his ass the most!" His fists clench in the air at the thought of his rival. "Think about the test scores, the test scores! He beat you by a whole three points, remember?!"

Sakura releases a loud shout of exasperation as she swings her Beater's bat at an incoming Bludger, aiming toward a blur of Slytherin green soaring toward an airborne Quaffle. The Chaser's broomstick dips abruptly in attempt to evade her strike, and Sakura notices a familiar face frowning in her direction as he steadies. She wrinkles her nose: _speak of the devil._

The Ravenclaw section of the stadium erupts into cheers as Shino Aburame steals the Quaffle and scores, bringing the game to a tie, but Sakura's grip on her bat merely tightens. She can feel the Uchiha's glare piercing the back of her head.

Even with the Gryffindor sector across the field, she hears a strange medley of both Ino and Naruto's voices shouting in approval.

She thinks back to last week's Charms test that Sasuke Uchiha had managed to outscore her on, despite most likely having not studied nearly as much as she had. She blames his bloodline; his family was one of purest magical blood, and everything came naturally to him. Aiming a different Bludger in the direction of another Slytherin Chaser, Sakura swings the bat with every intention of displaying everything she has to prove, despite her non-magical roots.

There are numerous screams from the Slytherin crowd as the Chaser, Suigetsu, hangs from his broom with one arm, kicking his legs in attempt to bring himself upright again.

Sakura turns away and barely blinks as the Slytherin beater, Karin, spikes a Bludger toward her, sending it back in a heartbeat. She hears cheering from the crowd and grins, showing teeth.

The game then progresses steadily, each team seeming to score turn by turn.

Kiba Inuzuka is first, scoring once for Slytherin, only to have Sai following close by with ten points for Ravenclaw. Sasuke Uchiha then scores, right before Shino scores again for Ravenclaw.

Sasuke scores another time, and as the Quaffle skims the rim, Sakura notices a Bludger soaring her way at an alarming speed, determinedly gripping her bat before sending it flying. Every pair of eyes on the Quidditch pitch sees it slam Sasuke Uchiha square in the face.

She hears his nose break at every place possible and watches on with wide, horrified eyes as he is knocked off of his broom, tumbling to the ground.

Without thinking, she soars beneath him, almost missing his form as he tears through the sky.

She catches him swiftly, and the crowd goes wild.

In her haze, Sakura thinks she hears Ino screaming bloody murder.

* * *

Sakura paces outside the hospital wing door, still in her uniform, perhaps a good forty-five minutes later. She had hidden around the corner as the Slytherin Quidditch team stopped by to check on their crowned Chaser, and surreptitiously watched on, grimacing at the exaggerated emotion and melodrama they exhibited around his bed.

But, to be fair, Sasuke had been bleeding profusely the entire time, so Sakura lets it slide.

By now, she thinks, surely he's been patched up and would be rearing to go in any minute. For a moment, she wonders why she's even in this situation, considering to start a conversation with an unspoken rival whose face she recently ruined.

"Sorry," Sakura mouths to herself, trying out the words, "um…sorry I…smashed your nose in?"

She shrugs and lets out a sigh, halting her rigorous pacing and swiveling to pull open the hospital wing door. She takes a step in—

Only to find herself face-to-face with Sasuke Uchiha.

 _Speak of the devil,_ she hisses soundlessly _, again._ She gulps, and all two seconds of her rehearsed apology fly out her left ear.

"Oh," Sasuke says, and Sakura attempts to force all shock from her face. It frustrates her that she can't pinpoint the tone of his voice. "It's you."

They stand in an awkward silence for what feels like hours.

"Thanks," Sasuke says, finally, and Sakura raises her eyebrows, glancing over her shoulder. Surprisingly, there's no one there: the hallway is empty, and Sasuke's voice is all that fills the air.

He exhales. "I'm talking to you, Haruno."

Sakura makes a face that bleeds disbelief and squints at him. "What for?" she asks, her features distorting. "For…smashing your nose in?"

"Of course," he deadpans. Had Sakura been anyone else, she might have believed him. He lifts a hand to push away his hair. "I mean, for catching me. I would've broken much more if you hadn't."

Sakura snorts. "If I hadn't hit you at all, I wouldn't have had to."

"True," Sasuke says. He tilts his head, peering down at her. "But you were so focused on knocking me off my broom that I think you would've managed eventually. You must really hate me."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura crosses her arms. "I do."

Sasuke shrugs, sidestepping her and taking a few steps forward. "I can't say the same, but it can't be helped."

Sakura's face contorts as their distance increases.

"And you better bet I'm outdoing you on the next Charms exam, too," he calls back.

Sakura scoffs, flipping the bird.


End file.
